Signs of Global Warming: Howls of Some 1,000 Dogs Signal Cermonial Start of Iditarod in Anchorage
Signs of Global Warming:
So for the ceremonial start of the Iditorad race in Anchorage they had to haul in snow. The real start of the race will be two days later up in Fairbanks - even there the start had to be moved since the planned startline on the Chena river isn’t feasible due to open leads in the ice.
With the real race two days and some 360 miles away, 78 mushers and more than a thousand howling, tail-wagging sled dogs will parade through Anchorage on Saturday morning at the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
It was shaping up as a wet, sloppy day with light rain, temperatures in the upper 30s and slushy trail conditions on the Iditarod route through the city. Much of the snow was hauled in, and not just for bare downtown streets. City trails had been packed in recent days, but by Saturday morning the snow was wearing thin in many places.
Mushers will start in two-minute increments beginning at 10 a.m. and will travel 11 miles over streets and trails, with hundreds of fans cheering them along.
More: Howls of Some 1,000 Dogs Signal Cermonial Start of Iditarod in Anchorage